


Pinelli and the Tome Raider

by idanato



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: F/M, Let's assume ashe never got taken in by lonato and led a life of crime, Post-Time Skip, meet cute, wrote on my lunch break
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-20
Updated: 2020-02-20
Packaged: 2021-02-27 20:07:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,122
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22821502
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/idanato/pseuds/idanato
Summary: Ashe plays hard to get with Leonie
Relationships: Ashe Duran | Ashe Ubert/Leonie Pinelli
Comments: 12
Kudos: 15





	Pinelli and the Tome Raider

**Author's Note:**

  * For [floweringlight](https://archiveofourown.org/users/floweringlight/gifts).



Leonie ate another piece of beef jerky and kept her binoculars primed on the windows of the Gloucester estate. “I know you’re out here somewhere,” she muttered as she kept watch for the Tome Raider.

The Tome Raider was hitting all the nobles of Leiscester, and Gloucester was the next logical spot to hit. No book or scroll was safe, especially not fables or fairy tales. The Tome Raider had a refined palate; she (or he) was very choosey when they raided bookshelf and pantry alike. All over the Alliance nobles were reporting missing manuscripts and high value hard to score ingredients.

“Wait until you see what I’m cookin’ up,” whispered Leonie as she worked on what she was going to declare when she caught the bandit. “No, um, I’m going read you the book this time pal.” Oh man, maybe she ought to take a leaf from Byleth’s book and just say nothing.

This was the first job she’d gotten post war. Leonie wanted to do the Blade Breaker proud, but man, independent contract work was so hit and miss these days. She was elated the war was won, but suddenly there wasn’t a huge need for mercenaries! What a conundrum. At least Lorenz had tossed her this job to ensure his family’s first edition gilded Chronicles of Nabatea series about some weird cloak turned portal didn’t get swiped. Leonie didn’t really listen to all the details, all she knew was these books were mint, and Lorenz was convinced the Tome Raider could not possibly resist such a noble collection.

There was a sudden movement on the roof! Leonie zoned in on the thief as she (or he) rappelled down to the library window and opened it. They slipped inside. Leonie readied her bow as she crept towards the house. Not much time at all passed before the rope reappeared and the thief began to rappel down from the second floor towards the kitchens.

“Got you this time,” said Leonie as she broke into a sprint.

All she found were crumbs and an empty lemonade bottle. This thief was stealthy and fast, a true pro. They had even gotten into a locked cabinet of truffles, what a fiend.

The next morning Lorenz was distraught, “They stole _The Mage’s Nephew_!”

“They only took the one book?” asked Leonie as she looked at the case smudged with fingerprints.

“They’re very heavy bound volumes,” said Lorenz as he looked sadly at his seven, now six, book set. It was true, they were huge and illustrated and only one could fit in a standard sized satchel at once (well at least if one was leaving room for some jars of caviar or fancy little onions).

“And he made off with a whole ham,” grumbled Lorenz. “That was to be our dinner tonight.”

“Well, I think she, or he, will be back tonight for the next book,” started Leonie.

“Not _The Lion, the Witch, and the Warded Robe!_ ” cried Lorenz. “That’s the most popular one!”

“Then they’ll definitely be back,” declared Leonie as she pounded her fist into her palm. She would catch the Tome Raider or she wasn’t the Blade Breaker II (which she was, so, she was going to catch them, obviously).

For the second night in a row, Leonie was staking out the Raider. This time she was in the house, and she had set a little tantalizing trap. She decided to wait in the kitchen now that she knew that would be the second stop and had set out a little snack attack. The Raider would come in, and surely help themselves to the tempting Canapé spread Leonie had doused with a sleeping draught. Then it would be lights out and caper caught!

Sure enough, the Tome Raider showed and started to dump the little puff pastry delights into a waiting sack. Leonie sprung up with her sword, “Not tonight Tome Raider! Your crime spree ends here!” Now that she was close, she could see the Tome Raider was a man, and his small build was ideal for the rogue life. 

The Raider wore a black mask that covered his forehead down to the bottom of his nose, and his long gray hair hung over the front a bit. “Ha! Sorry to dine and dash!” With that he spun and dodged his way to the door and out into the night. Leonie gave chase but he had a wyvern waiting!

Leonie shook her sword at the sky, “Cripplin’ Kronyas, how could I be such a fool?” She was going to have to get smarter if she was going to catch this criminal.

On the third night, no Raider. Leonie had a sinking feeling in her stomach as she wondered if now that he had the most valuable book he might be moving onto another target. Lorenz was unimpressed to say the least by her skills. She had to catch the Raider now, it was a matter of pride.

On the fourth night she waited on the roof to test a theory. She figured the Raider must land his wyvern on the top of the house, shimmy down to do his theiving, and then his loyal mount picked him up from the ground. This time she hid inside a chimney ready to jump up and lasso the jerk. Around one in the morning she heard the tell tale flapping of wings. The Raider had arrived.

Leonie attempted to spring from the chimney and found herself stuck! Her arms were pinned to her sides as she squirmed and cursed. The Tome Raider paused to stare, “Seems you’ve gotten yourself into a tight spot.”

“Oh shut up,” grumbled Leonie. “When I get outta here, I’m gonna—”

“What you going to do? Give me more sleepy snacks? I was out for eighteen hours thanks to you,” said the Raider. He pretended to yawn, “It was an unexpectedly good nap though, so thank you.”

He gave her a wink and rappelled down the wall. The wyvern watched Leonie closely. She swore it was giving her the stink eye. Or maybe it just stank, it was a wyvern after all. Eventually the Raider returned to the roof. “I decided to take two books tonight to make up for lost time,” he said to her as he looped his own length of rope around her.

“Hey, what are you doing?” demanded Leonie as the rope tightened around her torso.

“I’m going to try to get you out of this chimney,” said the Raider as if that were obvious.

“What? Why?” Leonie glared at him with suspicion.

“Because it’s the right thing to do?”

“You steal from people, what do you know about doing the right thing?” Leonie asked as she continued to struggle.

For a moment the Tome Raider looked affronted. “I don’t steal for personal gain. I mean, sure I might read a book before I pawn it off, but my proceeds go to charity!”

“Yeah right, that’s just what you want me to think,” Leonie grumbled. Oh man, no more hiding in chimneys, or at the very least she was going to grease herself up before getting into one.

The Raider shook his head and hopped up onto his flying steed. He gently rose up the air and the rope became taut. It was pretty uncomfortable but soon Leonie popped free of the chimney. The Tome Raider lowered her down and plopped her onto the roof.

“Hey, what’s your name,” called down the Tome Raider.

“Leonie Pinelli, and what’s yours?”

“As- ah! Nice try,” laughed the Raider before flying off into the night with his stolen books.

Now _The Pegasus and his Boy_ and _Prince Cichol_ were both stolen too. Leonie had gotten one important clue though; the thief was pawning off books. She convinced Lorenz to offer a reward for information that might lead to the Tome Raider’s capture and had his messengers ride out to every pawn shop, from reputable to shady, to cast a wide net. That gave her another idea, she was going to use a net to nab this guy!

On the fifth night, Leonie hid in the shadows of the library ready to pounce. As expected, the Tome Raider came into the library, but not through a window. He’d hit the kitchen first and was happily eating as he opened the glass case. Leonie lunged forward throwing her net at him, “You’re going down!”

However, he was small and fast as he grabbed the net and twirled around her. It was almost like they were dancing for a moment but when it was done, Leonie was caught up in her own trap. “Hey!” Leonie struggled against the net (it was a really good one too, curse her bargain hunting skills!).

The Tome Raider smiled from the window where his wyvern was idling, “Better luck next time Pinelli.” He blew her a kiss and hopped from the window onto his mount with _The Voyage to the Edge of Dawn_ safe in his bag.

Lorenz wanted her to use back up for the next night. “There are only two books left! My guards will assist you.”

“Pinelli works alone,” she warned as she crossed her arms. More like, Pinelli doesn’t share rewards because she’s got student debts to pay!

“Then Pinelli doesn’t work at all,” sighed Lorenz.

“Are you firing me?” asked Leonie in disbelief.

“You allowed him to steal five books right out from under your nose,” complained Lorenz. “This is just a bad investment at this point.”

Leonie asked herself “What would Jeralt do?” and went straight to the nearest tavern to drown her sorrows.

“Rough day?” asked the bartender, a young man with freckles and gray hair. He looked sweet and Leonie was three beers deep so she figured she could lament her tale of woe to him.

“I got fired,” she said morosely into the bottom of her now empty tankard.

“Oh, sorry to hear that, the next one’s on me,” said the bartender. His voice was somehow familiar.

“Hey, buddy, do I know you?” She asked as her eyes narrowed in on him.

The bartender frowned and shook his head, “I highly doubt it, I only just moved here.”

“Where’re you from?”

“Faerghus,” said the bartender. “I came to the Alliance for a fresh start.”

Leonie sighed, “Yeah well, avoid becoming mercenary or bounty hunting.”

“I’m more into cooking than killing,” said the bartender as he mopped up the bar. “I’m sorry you got fired.”

Leonie was sorry too, so she kept drinking. The bartender’s shift eventually finished around midnight and he left. Leonie woke up in the stockades the next morning with her unpaid bar tab hung on her neck.

As she wondered how she was going to get out of her latest jam, she saw Lorenz approaching. “Leonie, I was so wrong! I need you!”

“I told you already Gloucester, I’m never going to date you,” she groaned as she squinted at him through her hangover.

“No! The Tome Raider, he struck again. He took out all my men and even my bear traps! I’m reinstating you immediately, this is our last chance to catch him,” insisted Lorenz. “He’s going to come after _The Last Battalion_ , I can feel it!”

“Oh, well, in that case, do you think you could take care of this uh little bill here?” asked Leonie with as nice a smile as she could muster.

Once she was free, she and Lorenz began to scheme out how they might catch the Tome Raider. They had a whole crazy plan that they hashed out in the tavern. The bartender from the night before offered some suggestions, he was surprisingly insightful, and then took his break.

When Leonie and Lorenz arrived back to the estate they were greeted with the news that the last book had already been stolen! In its place in the now empty glass case was a rose and a note.

_Dear Leonie Pinelli,_

_You gave me quite the thrilling chase this week. I’m almost sorry to have finished this job, because it means I’ll no longer get to run into you. If you’re interested in catching up, meet me in Derdriu, and see if you can stop me from stealing the Lord of the Relics (illustrated first edition) from Duke Riegan himself._

_Your biggest fan,_

_The Tome Raider_

_P.S. If you’ll let me, I’d love to cook you dinner and show you the beauty of the city at night. Maybe I’ll even let get close to catching me this time._

Lorenz stared at the letter in disbelief. “The nerve! What are you going to do?”

“I guess I’m going to Derdriu!” declared Leonie. She had a Raider to catch!

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by me misunderstanding a subplot in Adagio by Masdevallia (https://archiveofourown.org/works/21887539/chapters/52242160)


End file.
